Development of EFL Students’ Writing in Secondary Education

Source:
By:Ana Cristina Lahuerta

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30564/jler.v1i1.299

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to explore and measure language learners’ performance in L2 writing production using the complexity, accuracy, and fluency constructs. A total of 123 secondary education students took part in the study. Results are manifold. In the first place, they show that the measures of fluency, accuracy, grammatical and lexical complexity progress in a significant way: fourth grade students outperform first graders in the aforementioned measures. Secondly, fewer correlations between the writing measures used and the general quality of the compositions are found among the older students than among the younger ones, indicating that the correlations change depending on learners’ age. Thirdly, 1st year students exhibit a higher ratio of errors, both in general and also by error category, although only two types decrease significantly in 4th year students: syntactic and spelling errors. Lastly, we find that errors tend to develop in a non-linear way. References:

[1] Weissberg, B. Developmental relationships in the acquisition of English syntax: Writing vs. speech. Learning and Instruction 2000; 10(1): 37-53. [2] Verspoor M, Schmid, M. S., Xu, X. A dynamic usage based perspective on L2 writing. Journal of Second Language Writing 2012; 21(3): 239-263. [3] Larsen-Freeman, D. The emergence of complexity, fluency, and accuracy in the oral and written production of five Chinese learners of English. Applied Linguistics 2006; 27(4): 590-619. [4] Rosmawati, R. Dynamic development of complexity and accuracy: a case study in second language academic writing. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 2014; 37(2): 75-100. [5] Ellis, R., Barkhuizen, G. Analysing learner language. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. [6] Housen, A., Kuiken, F., Vedder, I. Complexity, accuracy, and fluency: Definitions, measurement and research. In A. Housen, F. Kuiken, I. Vedder (Eds.), Dimensions of L2 performance and proficiency: Complexity, accuracy and fluency in SLA (pp. 1-20). Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2012. 1-20. [7] Skehan, P. A cognitive approach to language learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. [8] Skehan, P. Modelling second language performance: Integrating complexity, accuracy, fluency, and lexis. Applied Linguistics 2009; 30(4): 510-532. [9] Babba, K., Nitta, R. Phase transitions in development of writing fluency from a complex dynamic systems perspective. Language Learning 2014; 64(1): 1-35. [10] Ortega, L. Syntactic complexity measures and their relationship to L2 proficiency: A research synthesis of college‐level L2 writing. Applied Linguistics 2003; 24(4): 492-518. [11] Wolfe-Quintero, K., Inagaki, S., Kim, H.-Y. Second Language Development in Writing: Measures of Fluency, Accuracy, and Complexity (Technical Report #17). Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i, Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center, 1998. [12] Norris, J. M., Ortega, L. Towards an organic approach to investigating CAF in instructed SLA: The case of complexity. Applied Linguistic 2009; 30(4): 555-578. [13] Bardovi-Harlig, K., Bofman, T. Attainment of syntactic and morphological accuracy by advanced language learners. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 1989: 11(1): 17-34. [14] Carlisle, R. S. The writing of Anglo and Hispanic elementary school students on bilingual, submersion, and regular programs. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 1989; 11(3): 257-280. [15] Lorenzo, F., Rodríguez, L. Onset and expansion of L2 cognitive academic language proficiency in bilingual settings: CALP in CLIL. System 2014; 47: 64-72. [16] Yang, W., Lu, X., Weigle, S. C. Different topics, different discourse: Relationships among writing topic, measures of syntactic complexity, and judgments of writing quality. Journal of Second Language Writing 2015; 28: 53-67. [17] Knoch, U., Rouhshad, A., Storch, N. Does the writing of undergraduate ESL students develop after one year of study in an English-medium university? Assessing Writing 2014; 21: 1-17. [18] Knoch, U., Rouhshad, A., Oon, S. P., Storch, N. What happens to ESL students’ writing after three years of study at an English medium university? Journal of Second Language Writing 2015; 28: 39-52. [19] Navés, T., Torras, M. R., Celaya, M. L. Long-term effects of an earlier start: An analysis of EFL written production. In S. H. Foster-Cohen & S. Pekarek Doehler (Eds.), EUROSLA Yearbook 3. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2003. 103-129. [20] Godfrey, L., Treacy, C., Tarone, E. Change in French second language writing in study abroad and domestic contexts. Foreign Language Annals 2014; 47(1): 48-65. [21] Larsen-Freeman, D. Complex, dynamic systems: A new transdisciplinary theme for applied linguistics? Language Teaching 2012; 45(2): 202-214. [22] Yang, W., Sun, Y. Dynamic development of complexity, accuracy and fluency in multilingual learners’ L1, L2 and L3 writing. Theory and Practice in Language Studies 2015; 5(2): 298-308. [23] Thewissen, J. Capturing L2 accuracy developmental patterns: Insights from an error‐tagged EFL learner corpus. The Modern Language Journal 2013; 97(S1): 77-101. [24] Larsen-Freeman, D. Assessing global second language proficiency. In H. W. Seliger, M. H. Long (Eds.), Classroom oriented research in second language acquisition. Rowley: Newbury House Publishers, Inc, 1983. 287-304. [25] Abe, M., Tono, Y. Variations in L2 spoken and written English: Investigating patterns of grammatical errors across proficiency levels. Proceedings from the Corpus Linguistics Conference Series 2005; 1(1). [26] Bardovi-Harlig, K. Reverse‐order reports and the acquisition of tense: Beyond the principle of chronological order. Language Learning 1994; 44(2): 243-282. [27] Bardovi-Harlig, K., Reynolds, D. W. The role of lexical aspect in the acquisition of tense and aspect. TESOL Quarterly 1995; 29(1): 107-131. [28] Granger, S. Uses of tenses by advanced EFL learners: Evidence from an error‐tagged computer corpus. In H. Hasselgård, S. Oksefjell (Eds.), Out of corpora: Studies in honour of Stig Johansson. Amsterdam-Atlanta: Rodopi, 1999. 191-202. [29] Han, Z. A study of the impact of recasts on tense consistency in L2 output. TESOL Quarterly 2002; 36(4): 543-572. [30] Hawkins, J. A., Buttery, P. Criterial features in learner corpora: Theory and illustrations. English Profile Journal 2010; 1(1): 5.